Merry Christmas! Have you ever felt the thrill of hearing the name of Jesus? How about hearing that the Savior had been born... on a dark night, out in the fields, with only the other shepherds and a bunch of sheep to back up your story? What strikes me this morning about the shepherds is that the Bible does not record any questions the shepherds might have been expected to have, such as: Who is going to believe us? The angel brought the good tidings; the shepherds said to each other, "let's go see this!"; and the shepherds spread around the town of Bethlehem what they had heard and seen. No shame, no doubts, just a witness... and then they went home to the fields glorifying and praising God for those things they had heard and seen. The Bible tells us that the people in Bethlehem wondered at the things the shepherds had to say.
As with any group of people the wondering probably went in different directions according to the spiritual state of the person doing the wondering. Some probably wondered, "Why not me? I'm an important Pharisee!" Another person might have wondered why the heavenly host didn't appear over the manger where the Christ child lay. Others may have simply accepted the witness at face value and said, "Wow! Great and glorious is our God!" We don't know exactly what all of those folks wondered that night, but we do know a couple of things from the Bible. Bethlehem was crowded at the time of Jesus' birth. The census ordered by Caesar Augustus had brought many to town to be registered. All of these folks would be going home with the shepherd's story in their minds. Even before Herod could order the slaying of the boys under 2 years of age, the story would have spread far. Perhaps Herod had heard the stories himself and was in a right agitated state of mind when the wise men showed up. "Heavenly hosts, angels, good tidings, the Messiah?" Herod might have worried. "I have to stomp on this right away!" Then the wise men show up asking King Herod where the newborn King of the Jews had been born. The wise men were probably wise enough to realize they had just asked a jealous monarch where to find his replacement!
Whatever the people might have wondered at on that night, a couple of years later Herod didn't wonder at all but moved to destroy this newborn king. Herod's throne must have been built on sand to be worried about a two year old boy. However, years later, after Herod had long since died, the people would try to make Jesus king by force. I guess Herod did have something to worry about. We know from the gospels that Jesus did not take up the throne of Judah at that time. We also know that Jesus will come as the King of kings when he returns to this world. What a great gift that would be for this Christmas!
Have a wonderful Saturday; it's one week until Christmas!
Bucky
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